“You of little faith�
BibleClass.com.au Teaching Series Series: The Sermon on the Mount Part: #28 Main Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34 Teacher: Dr Paul Iles Date: 11.11.2012
Inline, direct scripture quotes are italicised. Block quotes are indented. The New King James Version is used unless otherwise stated. This transcript has undergone minor editing to ensure readability.
The MP3 audio of the study upon which this transcript is based and a learning guide are available from http://bibleclass.com.au/
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Introduction & Structure
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oday we continue in Matthew 6. We are still dealing with the particular issue of succumbing to the world’s pressures, cares, worries and anxieties, because if you recall from the other week, this was one of those two things that will ruin our usefulness for the Lord. The first was the issue of laying up treasure on earth and we dealt with that in some detail already. Jesus opens up three ways in which this particular problem can manifest itself. We will deal with those three manifestations today. 1. The first is as failure to seek first the kingdom of God. We have looked into this already. 2. The second is the problem of “little faith” - this will be dealt with today. 3. The third is a failure to divide life as God divided it - into days. This one is especially interesting. It is important that we understand what “little faith” is - what the Lord meant by that phrase. When we have little faith, we want to increase it, but we will discover that we actually do not want to increase the quantity of our faith because that is not possible. Faith is something that we already have. How do we therefore define this increase in faith? That is a question we will answer shortly. We also have this issue which comes up in the chapter concerning the dividing up of life into days. This is quite a revelation. We are told here and in other parts of the Bible that the Christian lives their life on a daily basis, drawing on today’s grace for today’s problems. Remember that our whole approach to this issue of the worries and anxieties of life has been founded on Jesus’ comment in Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
If you continue reading, you will see that Jesus is not saying that this is an issue which will never overwhelm you. He is saying, rather, that there are circumstances in which this will become a problem, but He gives illustrations and examples to show us why it need not be a concern, and in fact why it must not be a concern. Each illustration gives us an answer to a particular circumstance or kind of worry. Recall we looked at three: feeding the birds, clothing the lilies and adding cubits to your stature. The important thing out of all these examples is that a failure to deal with the anxious thoughts will take our focus off the Lord and spoil our faith... And Satan will use this problem quite deliberately for that purpose. As usual, the Lord is incredibly perceptive in His teaching. His comments go right to the core of the problem in verse 25. You might say that His teaching is so often deceptively simple. For a revision of those three examples and their profundity, you may like to review study #27. We finished up last time at this transition point from the Lord’s illustration about the lilies of the field to His comment concerning “little faith.” He has just pointed out that the lilies are so beautifully clothed by our Heavenly Father, even though they are so passing and temporal - as soon as tomorrow, they will be gone. How much more therefore will He provide similar
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and indeed far better care for you and me who are forever? For eternity? Then He makes that statement, “O you of little faith.”
O You of Little Faith
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y saying this, He is bringing out one of the reasons why these things can become so big to us. It is because we might be just the possessors of what it says here – “little faith.” What does that mean?
Faith that covers all of life
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ou might say “Well, I haven’t got much faith.” That is not what we are talking about. Rather than a small quantity of faith, like a drop of water in a cup which needs adding to, little faith actually refers to faith which has not been applied to or extended over all areas of your life. The issue is this: we haven’t taken what’s there and extended it far enough. We’re certainly sure, for example, that we have got faith in God for salvation. We’re certainly sure that faith applies to spiritual aspects of our life. But there’s a problem: there are areas of our life in which we do not involve the Lord completely. Faith ought to be a matter of complete surrender. There must be full dependance in light of a realisation that God, our Heavenly Father, isn’t just interested in our salvation - that is the saving of our souls and deliverance from Hell in the future - He is also more than interested in keeping us along the way. There is actually no area of my life, whether personal, private, social, family, spiritual, prayer, church or whatever that the Lord is not included in. Our faith extends to all areas of our life. You say, “But everybody knows that.” That might be true, but it probably isn’t. It is probably true that we hear the statement and nod our heads, but many of us live as though this business of praying and getting into spiritual things is a part of our church life, or spiritual life which is cordoned off from the rest of our lives - the practical, everyday, living in the world part. We have another life - a work life. And another - a home life. And another - a family life... The truth is that we only have one life; one life and one faith! Little faith is faith that has been relegated to the corner to cover a certain area of life. The Lord says, “You have got it all wrong!” That faith has to cover your whole life! It has to be your life - just as big, just as expansive, just as vital! In fact, “The just shall live by faith” [Hebrews 10:38].
Remember the examples in Hebrews 11. All those men and women - their faith was extended to every area of their life. Abel, growing up in a dysfunctional family home of unhappiness, conflict, struggle, misery, hardship... A life so far below what Adam and Eve had started out with. In the middle of it all, he has a brother who is capable of murder, plotting to kill him. Growing up in that situation, what on earth is he going to do? Well, it says, “By faith Abel...” He lived by faith. Noah, socially isolated. The only man with a family that stood out on the face of the earth. Laughed at, ridiculed every single day of his life. Preaching and getting absolutely no results, labouring for decades to build an ark. Everything seems so futile: he doesn’t fit in, nobody wants him, he looks so stupid. Living in that situation, what on earth is he going to do? Well, it says, “By
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faith Noah...” He lived by faith. Abraham, leaving home not knowing where he’s going to go. He had every reason to be anxious, every reason to be overwhelmed, every reason not to cope. He left home with no guarantee, guidelines, surety or certainty about his destination. But Abraham believed God. “By faith Abraham...” Don’t have a “little faith” that you just use on Sundays. Don’t have a little faith that you just use in your quiet times when you pray about spiritual things. Faith covers all of life. We live by faith
Faith that lays hold of all the promises of God
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ver and over in the Bible, you will find verses that either reassure you, guide you or tell you the exact answer to your problem. What do you do about those verses? Too often we read over them because, well... You know... “That was alright for them, but they’re not in my situation. This is different.” And then you carry on, still with your problem. The sad truth is that you haven’t laid hold of a promise of God. You just passed over it. God says, through His word, “Here is a promise for you and here is the condition of the promise.” You can take that condition, do it, and receive the promise. The promise will always hold good because God cannot lie and the Bible itself tells us, “My God shall supply all your need” [Philippians 4:19]. “But I am worried today. I am anxious today. It’s not going to happen, because it isn’t happening today. It’s not going to happen because I look at tomorrow and all I can see is the problem.” Stop! Faith says, “God clearly said it, therefore I believe it and I will rest in it.” Little faith, however, does not do that. Little faith will doubt, fear and question. It will read the Bible and understand it BUT not apply it because my situation is different, or you don’t understand or some other loophole or argument will pass the promise right over. Little faith does not take the scripture as it is. Little faith does not read it, believe it and just do it. For example, let’s say I am distressed. What does the Bible say to do in that situation? Suddenly you read it - you find the answer, you see what you have to do... But you’ve got little faith and you say, “Oh, but I can’t do that.” “Oh, I tried that and it didn’t work.” That’s little faith. Proper faith takes God at His word. Proper faith reads His word, believes His word and actually does His word. You may have noticed two slightly different dimensions to this issue. First is faith for salvation - believing on God; having saving faith. The second is faith for ongoing life - not just believing on Him, but actually believing Him, like Abraham, Abel and Noah. In reality the two should not be separated like that, but the trap we fall into is that our faith stops short at issues which fall into the first category and fails to extend further, to the whole of life. Little faith doesn’t go far enough. Proper faith takes God at His word, believes that He is who He is and both believes and obeys Him.
Faith or feelings
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ittle faith is governed by feelings. Yes, it’s true that we all have feelings and that they do arise within us, but little faith permits them to govern us. Little faith sees what God says, but it
also sees the problem: it is dismayed by it, overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy, often angry because life is not fair. You think, “Why is this happening to me?” And so on. These feelings come up and immediately, the intelligent, spiritual, biblical thinking of faith goes out the window. Impossible situations and calamities do come and you will never stop that, but the way you handle them is important. You can handle them on your own, but you’re not meant to. You have a Heavenly Father to whom you pray about these things. He is above and beyond it all because He is your Father and you are His child - you acknowledge that when you pray, “Our Father who is in heaven...” You are in His hand. He loves you. He cares for you. He purchased you with the blood of His own Son... Obviously He isn’t going to stop now! You may say, “Well I recognise that, but the problem is still there.” Of course it is. The problem is there, but God is there also. In fact, He did allow this catastrophe to come upon you. Did you ever think that through? In calamitous moments, not only does God know, but ultimately He allowed the situation to come upon you. Yes, the devil may be in it, but in the biggest, Sovereign and overall sense, God is in there in control. In a situation, you can get overwhelmed; you can be gripped by your feelings and completely lose focus. You’re looking at the problem and the work of the devil, and having done that the Bible says that the devil is a “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” So you’re defeated. Alternatively, you can look to God - which is precisely what faith does - and you realise that He is there; your Heavenly Father is there, in complete control. You need not fear. Remember Job. He had the biggest calamities you could imagine. They invaded every area of his life: his health, wealth, family, self-respect and his standing in the community. He was bereft and the truth is that the devil was in it. But the truth beyond that was that God had allowed it. You say “I don’t know why these things happen to me. I can’t see a solution to these problems.” Right until the end of his life, I think you will find that Job did not know. He did not know all that went on in the heavens and the happenings between the devil and God almighty and I suppose he never really understood what came upon him. But ultimately Job said “I’ll stop arguing, stop thinking, stop distressing and I will put my faith in God”. Now that is the whole point. Unchecked feelings can churn you to pieces, producing fear and a defeat and often a complete disruption in your relationship with God and the destruction of your peace. Instead of that, think biblically, soberly, carefully. The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” [Philippians 4:4]. But then come the excuses, “If you were in my situation, you couldn’t expect me to rejoice!” But the Bible says to rejoice ALWAYS. No, it doesn’t say to rejoice when the sun is shining. It doesn’t say to rejoice when things are good. It says to rejoice always! The Bible also says, “In everything give thanks” [1 Thessalonians 5:18]. Notice again - not in some things, not at some times... In everything! In Romans, Paul tells us that he rejoices - he glories in trouble. He glories in tribulation [Romans 5:3]. Think of the last time that you were in a real situation of trouble. Ask yourself whether you stopped, and rather than give in to your feelings you realised that the Bible tells us to rejoice in tribulation. Did you think to give God thanks for your situation? Maybe that sounds crazy. Maybe
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you ask, “What would be the point of that?” I’ll tell you: nothing comes upon us except God allows it. Even in the worst situations you will discover something that came out of it which was for your good. In fact, you will always learn two things: 1. You will learn something about your God. You will prove by experience that He is your Heavenly Father and that you can trust Him, that He does supply your need and He does deliver the godly out of trouble. Anxious cares, worries and so forth are an opportunity whereby you can prove and know God better. 2. You will learn something about yourself. Firstly, you will learn that you had little faith. Now you learn to take it and apply it to more situations. You learn that you are not as strong as you thought. You learn to empathise with others who are in this situation and who are perhaps not so strong. Immediately you see you’ve learned to rely on your Heavenly Father and not on your feelings... And you’ve grown, because He wanted you to grow. That was His intention. Never let feelings be the driving force behind your decision making when you are faced with distress, worry or anxiety. This is actually very difficult, especially in our society where it is quite normal for decisions to be made on two bases: feelings and myself. Instead, the Christian must apply their faith and look to God - faith looks to God. Think biblically, wisely and take into account God.
Faith that realises the implications of salvation Little faith fails to realise the implications of salvation. If you are saved, then who saved you? In the final analysis, it was God who saved you. Did you realise that the God who saved you intends to keep you? The Bible tells us that quite plainly: That is the implication of your salvation. When God saved you, was it a hard thing for Him to do? If He has done the hardest thing of all to reach you when you were out of His reach, to cross over the enormous gulf that sin had made, to pray the price of your redemption, to go so far as to give His Son for a sinner like you in order to save you, then He has shown Himself able to save. It then becomes a small thing to believe that He is able to keep you. Yes, God saved you from Hell. Yes, God has saved you so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. But He also saved you with the full intention that you should live with Him here and shine for Him in this world. He intends both things; He sees to the future and He sees to the present. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” When God saved you, He began a work in you. Yes, you are saved, but He’s saving you constantly every day; He is changing you, transforming you, teaching you, putting into you what wasn’t there, and He is completing the work until finally when you get to Heaven He’ll have you perfect. You are saved, you are being saved and you will be saved! Think of it like that. Take a look at 1 Peter 1. In verse 5 we are told that we are kept. Verse 3 tells us that we have got a living hope within us when we are saved. Verse 4 tells us that we have an inheritance in the future. An inheritance, “Incorruptible, undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you.” Who is it for? For those of us in verse 5 who are right now “kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our Heavenly Father will keep us until He takes us safely to His home, in Heaven.
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Take a look also at Romans 8:32. “He that did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” - He has already done the hard thing in salvation by not even sparing His Son, “How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Do you really think that He can’t look after everything that will come up after that? That completes a look at four things that are wrong with little faith: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Little faith does not cover our whole life; Little faith does not lay hold of all the promises of God; Little faith os overwhelmed by feelings; and Little faith fails to realise the implications of salvation.
Making Little Faith Grow Use what you’ve got I hope we are interested in making our little faith grow. In order to understand how we might do that, let’s take a look at some of the principles so far: firstly, we have been saying that you must use the faith that you’ve got and apply it. Application means that we read the Bible, believe it and do it. In all things, you look to God. You think of whom you’re trusting in, you recall what God has done for you and you look through that lens of thinking with respect to every area of life.
Faith is not automatic Faith does NOT work automatically - certainly not to start with. As you grow and prove the Lord, you will find that many a worry, trial or difficulty does come your way. The spiritually mature person may see it coming and let it wash right over them without a blink because they’ve said, “I believe God. I know God. I do not know the outcome, but I know Him.” That is spiritual maturity it’s not necessarily how the whole thing begins. Look at Matthew 8:26 for an example. In this part of scripture, the disciples have gotten into a ship and a great storm has whipped up. The ship is covered and the Lord is asleep. They wake Him up and they say, “Lord save us, we are perishing!” He says to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” These are the men which said to Him, “We know you are the Christ the Son of God.” Yes, they believe! But He calls them “you of little faith.” They attested to who they were, but when it came to a storm in a ship, their faith stopped short. It didn’t cover that situation. It didn’t cover everything. If you go to Luke 8:24, in the same situation, the Lord says, “Where is your faith?” He is not saying that they haven’t got any at all - rather, He is saying that they have left it in their back pocket. Where is it? Bring it out and use it! And that is what you must do. When Satan attacks you or when you are in the reality of life, where is your faith? Did you leave it on the pillow when you woke up? Did you leave it at church on Sunday night? Bring it into your daily life and live it!
Do you have enough? In Luke 17:5, the disciples said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” What are they saying? They’re saying, “Lord we’ve only got a little bit of faith.” It’s like $5 in the back pocket - I want $50! It’s
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like half a barrel of water - I want a full barrel! They’re saying, “We want some more of this thing called faith!” The Lord gives a strange answer to their request, which I couldn’t figure out for a long time. He says, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” A mustard seed is very tiny. It’s like a little grain of pepper. He tells them that, if they have got just that much faith then they will find it quite sufficient. The Lord is saying that it’s not the quantity of your faith that you need to worry about - there’s no such thing. The problem is not that you’ve run out of mustard seeds and you need some more. Rather, take the faith you’ve got - the one mustard seed - and with God’s help you’ll have all you need. You will face every problem that passes your way and you will overcome every situation. Verse 9 tells us that you will be able to do all things that He has commanded you to do, and the truth is that you’ll be able to do them regardless of the circumstances. No, you don’t need a big supply of faith. You need to use the faith that you have already been given. It is sufficient because the real definition of faith is, “Faith looks to God” and with God, all things are possible.
Apply it At its core, the application of faith is doing what the Bible says. Read it, believe it, do it. It’s not just a matter of Heaven and Hell: it’s just as much about living life on earth. But it does say, in 2 Peter, “Add to your faith.” We must determine the meaning of that. Note that he does not tell us to add to our faith with more faith. Rather, he is calling on us to apply our faith in a number of areas in our life; to bring these qualities in and find your faith strengthened as a result. Add diligence Firstly, we’re told to do this “giving all diligence” - in other words, be really serious about adding to your faith. Add to it, how? “Virtue.” That means excellence. Stop all these grubby low standards; elevate your sights a bit. Have real ambitions to live a better life for God. Have ambitions to have noble, Godly, holy things in you life and make that your mindset and framework of thinking. Stop grumbling along at a mediocre level because you’ll be a poor representation of the God who saved you. Add knowledge Next we’re instructed to add knowledge. Stop being spiritually dumb. “Oh, but I’ve just got little faith, I don’t understand these things!” More shame on you! That just means that you don’t understand the Bible and you don’t understand the scriptures. Especially young people - dedicate yourselves early in life to finding out about God, His word and what He has done for you. Add some knowledge in! Over and over again you see Christians either swept away with the latest lie, blown away by their latest problem, or even completely deceived and shattered due to what it happening in the world or happening to them, because things are not what they ought to be. Yes, life is difficult. It has been like that since the fall. There has been turmoil, trouble, sadness, sickness, calamity. This is
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life. It is absolutely not true that you will be preserved from trouble - the Bible does not teach that. We are not designated for a special glass case to shield us from worry, where God will only bless us with buckets of money, buckets of happiness and buckets of prosperity. We live in the same fallen world as everyone else. But add to your faith some proper, scriptural knowledge and it will transform you life in other ways. It will transform how you think. Your little faith will begin to spread. It will cover your whole life and therein will be your blessing in time of trouble and your help in time of need. You will look to God, believe God, prove God and grow. Add temperance Next we’re instructed to add temperance, which is self-control. Stop losing it. Stop letting feelings govern you. Don’t become a wreck of a person in a calamitous state of disarray because you’ve lost sight of God amidst the mess of trouble that has struck you. Put self-control in. Think soberly. Add endurance Next, we’re to add endurance; have some patience. Firstly in the sense that you must never ever, ever act hastily. Do not jump to conclusions, but rather wait on God. Secondly, in the sense that you stand firm: not as though you’re made of glass, so that the first wind that blows smashes you to pieces and you make a great, shattering noise and flurry all over the place. Actually endure. Add godliness Then we add godliness. In other words, bring your Heavenly Father into the equation every time. Remember how we ought to pray? Begin with, “Our Father in Heaven.” And so that forms a pattern for everything. Add brotherly kindness How about you and I, instead of thinking about yourself and myself, actually think about somebody else? People simply don’t live like that in the world. They think of themselves and their troubles. They get miserable when the world doesn’t go their way. Faith does not do that - it says, “I am going to add some brotherly kindness. I will think about others. I will think outside of myself.” Add love This is where it inevitably ends up once you’ve completed all of the other steps. I am thinking about others and I am thinking about God, who I’ve placed in the centre of my trouble. END
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Matthew Chapter 6 Study Index • The Christian’s life, lived before God (verses 1-18)
• The secret life of the Christian, “not to be seen by others” [Study #25]
• The Christian’s secret prayer life [‘The Lord’s Prayer’ study series #1 & #2]
• The Christian’s life, lived in the world (verses 19-34) • The danger of loving the world • Lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth [Study #26] • Seek first the kingdom of God [Study #26] • The danger of being overwhelmed by the world • Dealing with worry and anxiety [Study #27] • The problem of little faith [Study #28] [This study] • Living one day at a time [Study #29]
These, and more studies are available in written and audio format from http://bibleclass.com.au/
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